ARIZONA BORDER AND IMMIGRATION NEWS

Judge in Arizona’s multistate lawsuit temporarily blocks Trump’s birthright citizenship order

Jan 23, 2025, 12:20 PM | Updated: 1:04 pm

PHOENIX – Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes and her colleagues won the first battle in their multistate lawsuit to block President Donald Trump’s attempt to end birthright citizenship.

A federal judge in Seattle issued a temporary restraining order against Trump’s “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship” executive order after calling it “a blatantly unconstitutional order” during a hearing Thursday.

U.S. District Judge John Coughenour repeatedly interrupted a Justice Department lawyer during arguments to ask how he could consider the order constitutional. When the attorney, Brett Shumate, said he’d like a chance to explain it in a full briefing, Coughenour told him the hearing was his chance.

Coughenour said he’s been on the bench for more than four decades and couldn’t remember seeing another case where the action challenged was so clearly unconstitutional.

Shumate said he respectfully disagreed and asked the judge for an opportunity to have a full briefing on the merits of the case, rather than have a 14-day restraining order issued blocking its implementation.

What did AG Mayes say about ruling by judge?

Mayes called Coughenour’s ruling “a win for the rule of law and the U.S. Constitution.”

“His decision to grant a temporary restraining order against President Trump’s ‘blatantly unconstitutional’ executive order ending birthright citizenship is the first of many wins to come as my office fights instances of executive overreach and any illegal actions the new administration may take,” she said in a statement.

Mayes and attorneys general in Washington, Illinois and Oregon filed their suit on Tuesday, a day after Trump issued the order shortly after his inauguration.

The case is one of five being brought by 22 states and a number of immigrant rights groups across the country in response to Trump’s birthright citizenship order.

The lawsuits argue that the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees citizenship for people born and naturalized in the U.S., and states have been interpreting the amendment that way for a century.

Ratified in 1868 in the aftermath of the Civil War, the amendment says: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”

Trump’s order asserts that the children of noncitizens are not “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States and directs federal agencies not to recognize citizenship for children who don’t have at least one parent who is a citizen.

It was slated to take effect on Feb. 19 and, according to one of the lawsuits, could impact hundreds of thousands of people.

Mayes told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s The Mike Broomhead Show on Wednesday she expects her case to be reach the Supreme Court, where she anticipates a favorable ruling.

“No president, regardless of political party, has the ability with the stroke of a pen to rewrite the United States Constitution,” she said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Judge in Arizona’s multistate lawsuit temporarily blocks Trump’s birthright citizenship order